Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 401 14. Manticore

"Ah, I didn't expect this job to be so easy. It was over without even firing a shot!"

In the Badlands, Oliver, who was driving a modified Hera, was very excited: "I didn't expect that we could really bring the stuff out so easily. I really thought it would be like the spy movie with all kinds of thrills and accidents, and finally we got the stuff out in the face of danger. This reality is too incredible."

"Your idea is not very realistic."

Carl said, "The simplest espionage activity I can remember was a wooden American national emblem given to the United States by the Soviet Union. That thing only had six eavesdropping components in its entire structure, but it successfully monitored the conversations of the US Embassy for seven years. That's what we call incredible in reality."

"Is this happening?"

Jack said, "Carl, you know a lot."

"Yes, what I find most outrageous is that if the American agents hadn't monitored the Soviet Union and heard the voices of their own people at that time, they might never have discovered this secret. Compared with the seven-year monitoring by the spies and agents, we just stole something, which is really nothing."

There's nothing to be proud of. I just relied on luck and the occasional chance of not firing a shot to get the things from the room of a presidential candidate who didn't have many prosthetics installed. Not every mission will be so lucky. I always have to think about what I should do if I encounter such a thing next time.

The more obvious limitation of this mission is that after their team left Night City, they lost their familiarity with the place and the support of the rear personnel. It is no exaggeration to say that they were completely blind. If T-BUG had not arranged their identities in advance, obtained the building structure diagram and confirmed their identities, it would have been impossible for them to complete this job within three days of staying in the hotel. Their team was too dependent on T-BUG's rear support in all aspects.

Although there is nothing wrong with relying on partners, there are times when partners are not around. In case of any accidents, the other members of the team must have a backup plan.

I have to learn hacking knowledge systematically from T-BUG.

"Where are we now?"

V asked for directions.

"We're almost crossing the border into Southern California. It's not far."

Jack glanced at the itinerary record in the car and said, and when V heard Jack say that they were about to leave Southern California, he was obviously relieved: "Once we are here, no one should be able to catch up with us."

"Om-"

Almost at the next moment after V finished saying this, a sharp whistle sounded from a distance and then approached rapidly.

"V, maybe you have the gift of a crow's mouth."

"Crow's Mouth, what does that mean?"

"Now what it means is"

Carl sat in the back seat and looked behind him through the rearview mirror in the front seat: "A hovercraft is catching up with us."

"It really isn't that easy."

Oliver stepped on the accelerator: "But this is not Los Angeles. We are in the Bad Land. Come and chase me if you want!"

"It's a military-grade Manticore. It looks familiar. I remember that the cyber-psychopaths in the city also used this type of car."

Jack also looked back through the rearview mirror and had already picked up a Saratoga submachine gun.

"Are you referring to the Terrorist Squad? They do use the same type of vehicle, but the paint job is a little different. They're catching up!"

Oliver noticed that the hovercraft was approaching even if he stepped on the accelerator, so he said, "Get ready to engage. I'll drive, and I'll leave it to you to deal with them."

"How did they track us? Did they use surveillance satellites?" V picked up some gadgets from the small compartment under the seat and put them together. He didn't quite understand how the people from Military Technology could catch up with us.

"We don't need monitoring satellites. We just need to check for guests who checked out early and then follow the tracks left by their vehicles in the city all the way across the Badlands. We don't need any special equipment. The artificial eye can track them all the way."

Carl looked at the people catching up in the rearview mirror: "Here they come, there are two Manticores, be careful."

Each Scorpion-tailed Lion hovercraft has two machine guns that are powerful enough to tear apart the Sky Hera. Carl and his team are now facing four. Since they are not as fast as them and their defenses cannot withstand the attacks, they have to find a way to get rid of the pursuers.

For such a big hotel, Carl and his group must not be the only ones who checked out early today. If military technology is to be used for tracking, it is impossible to concentrate the force on tracking one car. In other words, the two hovercrafts chasing Carl and his group are just outposts. After they confirm the criminals, the hovercrafts in other tracking directions will follow. If Carl and his group want to get rid of their constant pursuit, they can only prevent the two chasing hovercrafts from sending signals.

"Buzz-beep-beep"

The alarm of the hovercraft was approaching, and it was accompanied by a warning: "The vehicle in front, please stop as soon as possible. According to federal regulations, we suspect that you are involved in espionage activities and need to be inspected. The vehicle in front, please stop as soon as possible. We will only warn you three times. If we don't see your vehicle slowing down after three seconds, we will launch an attack!"

"Slow down the fuck."

After blurting out a curse word, Jack yelled, "V!"

“I’ve already installed it!”

V had already assembled something in his hand, and along with the voices of Jack and V, Oliver kicked a button next to the accelerator.

"Hoohoo!"

With the sound of the vehicle creaking, the roof of the Sky Hera flew off the vehicle, exposing the people inside the car directly to the wind and sand of the evil land.

"Damn, how much have you changed?"

As Carl swallowed a mouthful of sand without any preparation and made an unbelievable sound, Jack and V, who were not wearing seat belts, had already stood up.

The back end of the item in V's hand had been placed on Jack's shoulder, while he used his shoulder and hand to steadily hold up the front end of the assembled item.

In the Manticore hovercraft, the original trackers had not yet reacted to the fact that the roof of the tracking vehicle was suddenly lifted up, but they saw what Jack and V and others were carrying together after the roof was lifted up.

After seeing clearly what it was, everyone in the hovercraft had a distorted look on their faces.

They didn't expect that tracking a car would lead to tracking this thing.

"Be careful, that's a man-portable air defense missile!"

"boom!"

As the white smoke rose around the people in the car, a brilliant spark exploded in the sky.

"Take care of one first!"

Jack yelled.

They went to Dogtown and bought a lot of good stuff.

(End of this chapter)